Manage Certificates
SCEPman offers several ways to manage and revoke a certificate. The available options depend on
whether the certificate was automatically enrolled via an MDM solution or whether it was generated via the Certificate Master UI / Enrollment REST API,
the MDM system that is used for (automatic) enrollment, and
the configuration of SCEPman.
Below section provides an overview of the different management options and revocation mechanisms and under which circumstances they are available.
Automatic Revocation
Only available when Microsoft Intune and/or Jamf Pro are used as MDM solution(s) for certificate enrollment. Alternatively it is available with any 3rd party MDM that is able to sync device and/or user objects with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) (i.e. Static AAD Validation can be used).
Supported on OCSP.
Background
Automatic revocation is always active and enables convenient certificate lifecycle management by linking each certificate to a directory object such as a user or device identity. Through this object binding mechanism, SCEPman can infer the revocation status based on certain lifecycle characteristics of the object is has been linked to. The mapping from the object's lifecycle state to the certificate's revocation state is implemented to match best practices from years of security and endpoint management experience.
The binding between directory object (user or device) and certificate is established by introducing appropriate variables in the SCEP profile for the Subject Name or Subject Alternative Name properties. Upon receiving a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from an MDM-managed client, SCEPman identifies the bound object and encodes this information into the serial number of the certificate before returning it to the client. It is the serial number that is transmitted to SCEPman's OCSP responder during certificate validation, allowing SCEPman to decode the object information, perform a search of the appropriate directory, and finally make a revocation status decision.
Revocation Behavior
In any of the below scenarios, revocation can be considered to be effective immediately, once the bound object's state has changed. Please note that local caching of OCSP responses on the client may suggest otherwise.
During testing, please consider that deleting/removing a device from the respective directory/MDM solution is an irreversible operation that will require you to re-enroll the device afterwards.
| Bound Object | Delete from Directory | Disable in Directory | Optional |
|---|---|---|---|
Intune Device | Not available |
| |
Entra (Azure AD) Device
| Delete: permanent revocation | Disable: reversible revocation |
|
Entra (Azure AD) User
| Delete: permanent revocation | Disable: reversible revocation |
|
Jamf Computer
| Delete: permanent revocation | Not available | Not available |
Jamf Device
| Delete: permanent revocation | Not available | Not available |
Jamf User on Computer
|
| Not available | Not available |
Jamf User on Device
|
| Not available | Not available |
*: Ensure during wipe, that "Wipe device, but keep enrollment state and associated user account" is disabled. Revocation is only immediate if AppConfig:IntuneValidation:RevokeCertificatesOnWipe is set to true (default).
Manual Revocation
SCEPman Enterprise Edition only
This feature requires version 2.3 or above.
Supported on OCSP and CRL.
Background
Manual revocation is available for any certificate issued by SCEPman - regardless of whether it was automatically enrolled via MDM, manually issued via the Certificate Master, or deployed via the Enrollment REST API. Manual revocation is useful when automatic revocation is not available or when automatic revocation paths are not sufficient to meet specific requirements.
To facilitate manual revocation, SCEPman needs to store certain metadata of the certificates it issues. While this is the case by default for certificates issued via the Certificate Master UI and the Enrollment REST API, it is not the case for other certificate types. Therefore, please ensure to review the relevant settings depending on your requirements.
Keep reading to learn how manual revocation is handled leveraging Certificate Master and its search and filtering options.
Certificate Master
SCEPman Certificate Master lets you search, inspect, and manage the certificates that your SCEPman PKI has issued. It uses two different databases as backend:
A data table in the Azure Storage Account deployed with SCEPman, and
Intune's database of issued certificates.
Depending on whether you enrolled a certificate via the Intune MDM or through other means (e.g. manually with Certificate Master or for Domain Controllers), you should search in one table or the other. You can reach both of them via the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the Certificate Master web UI.
It takes up to 6 hours after enrolling a certificate via Intune until it appears in the list of Intune certificates due to delays in the Intune API.
Storing Certificate Metadata in the Certificate Database
SCEPman 2.3 and above allows storing certificates issued via one of the SCEP endpoints in the Storage Account. This can be configured per endpoint:
Only certificates issued after enabling this setting will be stored in the database, and can be found and revoked manually!
Search for Certificates in the Certificate Database
If you are in the Manage Certificates view in Certificate Master, you will see a table of certificates and some filtering options above the table.
Texts entered into the Search Box filters certificates with a full-text search in everything shown in the UI, e.g. the certificate serial number, thumbprint, Subject, Subject Alternative Names, and the original requester of the certificate.
For the remaining filters, there is the standard view that suits most use cases and allows quick and intuitive selection of filters. If you want to view a more specific set of certificates, you can enable the advanced filter to see additional filter options.
The Type of certificate filter is only visible when the advanced filter option is enabled. It allows to show certificates of specific types, which primarily determines to which type of MDM entity their validity is bound to:
Static certificate have no automatic revocation. These are certificates issued via the Static SCEP Endpoint or via Certificate Master.
Domain Controllers receive certificates of type DC.
User certificates are bound to AAD or Jamf user objects. If these objects are disabled or deleted, or the AAD User Risk is too high, the corresponding certificate will become invalid.
Device certificates are bound to AAD or Intune device objects or to Jamf computer or device objects. Deleting or disabling these objects automatically revokes these certificates. If enabled, certificates of this type also become temporarily revoked if the linked directory object get incompliant.
The Validity status filter lets you display only certificates whose ValidTo date lies in the past (Expired), that have been revoked manually, or that are within its validity range and not manually revoked (Valid). Automatic revocation does not count for this filter, e.g. a device certificate whose device was deleted in AAD, but not manually revoked will show up only if you select Valid (or Any), although it is actually revoked and cannot be used.
The Revoked Intune Certificates table in Certificate Master is only relevant if you manually revoke Intune-issued certificates or if Intune has revoked the certificates, for example, due to a pending wipe or other conditions.
You can also filter for the channel the the certificate was enrolled over with the filter Source of the certificate request. The specific settings have the following meanings.
Certificate Master comprised the certificates manually issued via the Certificate Master web UI.
REST are the certificates enrolled via the SCEPman REST API.
SCEP are all certificates issued over one of the SCEP endpoints, but only if the certificate storage has been enabled on this SCEP endpoint. It also includes certificates that have been enrolled over Intune AND manually revoked.
SCEP (Generic) are certificates enrolled via the SCEP endpoints Static, Static-AAD, and Domain Controller. This is and advanced filter and is selectable only when advanced filter is enabled.
SCEP (Jamf) are certificates enrolled via the Jamf MDM. This is and advanced filter and is selectable only when advanced filter is enabled.
Automatic versus Manual Revocation
SCEPman uses different sources of revocation information to determine whether a certificate is valid when an OCSP request arrives. Furthermore, SCEPman's revocation logic follows an or-ed approach, which means if any revocation source deems the certificate to be invalid, it will be reported as revoked. There is no precedence from automatic over manual revocation or vice versa.
Please note, that the tables in Certificate Master only show the status of manual revocation and not other sources. Therefore, a certificate may be shown as valid in the table, although it is actually considered revoked, for example because the corresponding device was deleted in Intune (automatic revocation).
Further Reading
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